Typically, grips are made from a flexible material such as, for example, rubber, silicone rubber, or elastomer composites. These materials help a golfer grip the shaft during play, but, over time, they wear down and lose their efficacy.
Good golfing practice requires a golfer to change the grips on his/her golf club as it wears and loses its ability to function optimally. Golfers may have their clubs professionally re-griped or they may purchase the grips and needed materials to do it themselves.
Golf grips are conventionally attached to the club by adhering double-sided tape to the end of the club's steel or composite shaft. A solvent is then used to lubricate the taped end while the grip is forced over the shaft. The golf club shaft is typically tapered, increasing from the club head to a larger diameter at the upper grip end. In order for the grip to be fit to the golf club shaft properly, the grip must also have a taper to match the taper of the golf club shaft. The taper makes fitting the grip over the shaft challenging because, at one end, the grip has an opening that is smaller than the width of the shaft at its distal end.
Once the grip has been stretched over the shaft, the grip can be adjusted to the shaft end as the solvent and glue dries. This process is challenging because it requires excessive physical exertion to stretch the grip over the shaft even when the shaft is well lubricated by a solvent. The process of taping the shaft, lubricating the shaft and securing the club while forcing the grip on the shaft is messy and challenging to do in a home environment.
In addition, removing a worn grip requires using a blade to split the rubber along the shaft and pulling the old grip off. Cutting the grip can be dangerous, and physically pulling the grip off can be challenging. Not only is the physical process of removing conventional grips laborious and meticulous, but it can also take between 12-24 hours for the solvents to fully adhere and dry before the grip is ready for full use.
Other, more mechanical methods of removing grips exist. For example, pneumatic air pumps may be used to inflate the grip, thus allowing it to slide more easily onto and off of the shaft. However, these tools require expertise to operate. Aside from the safety risks associated with pneumatic tools, malpractice can incorrectly inflate a grip. Due to memory of the rubber material, applying too much pressure can permanently stretch the grip, thus making it unusable.
Grips that are interchangeable and more easily removed and re-attached exist in the prior art.
For example, the company, SwitchGrips (www.switchgripsusa.com) offers an interchangeable grip technology that provides a player with the ability to change the grip on a putter. Currently, it is the only interchangeable putter grip to offer multiple sizes for natural, fluid and more consistent putts. However, the internal sleeve of the grip is still required to be fixed to the shaft like conventional grips. The outer sleeve is the only changeable portion.
Accordingly, the SwitchGrips grip is not a “true” changeable grip as it is limited to a specific housing made by a specific company. Thus, the ability to attach any grip onto any shaft is not possible with this concept, which limits the product to a very small niche market.
Not only does SwitchGrips' technology not address the key issues associated with interchangeable grip technology, but it limits the user's purchasing power by restricting the user to buying only SwitchGrip products. Furthermore, SwitchGrips addresses only putter grips, and it is not possible to apply this technology to current iron or driver shafts due to the force required to swing such clubs, which is very different to that of putters. For example, the attachment of SwitchGrips' outer shell would not hold up under high torque conditions applied to iron or driver shafts. In addition, SwitchGrips acknowledges that their putter grips are not “one size fits all”, which limits their technology.
Another company, Nickel Putter USA (www.nickelputter-usa.com) offers grips having adjustable lengths, which is available for their current product line, and is limited to Nickel Putter products only. The adjustable grips allow for an incremental length adjustment and readjustment, and they are interchangeable. However, the grip has a glued screw in the back that is required in order to assemble the grip on the putter shaft. In order to remove the putter from the shaft, the user must heat the screw head and melt the glue. Thus, Nickel Putter's system is not only intricate, but requires tools and user experience to execute.
In addition, similar the SwithGrips' grips, Nickel Putter's grips are specific to putters and Nickel Putter products only, which limits Nickel Putter products to a small niche portion of the market.
A third company, Pure Grips USA (www.puregrips.com) is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 7,963,012, issued Jun. 21, 2011, and entitled TOOL FOR SEATING A GRIP ON THE SHAFT OF A GOLF CLUB, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Pure Grips' “Golf Grip Seating Tool” permits tapeless seating of a grip onto the shaft of a golf club by having the controllable application of compressed air expand the grip as it is positioned onto the shaft of a golf club. The “Golf Grip Seating Tool” comprises an enclosing member having an axial bore with an open end and a closed end, a slot, and a convergent nozzle mounted medially in the closed end of the enclosing member. The open end of the grip fits over the open end of the golf club shaft and forms a seal to allow the compressed air applied via the nozzle in the enclosing member to expand the grip, yet allow excess air to escape between the grip and the shaft as the grip controllably inflates at the distal end.
While Pure Grips' tool provides a fast method of application with no tape or solvents, it requires specific tools and user experience, which complicate the process of changing a grip. Furthermore, the tools require electricity to operate, which limits the location a player may change the grip, and renders rapidly replacing grips at the point of play impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,902, issued Dec. 2, 2008, and entitled CHANGEABLE GOLF GRIP, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a changeable grip for a shock imparting implement grip having a body, a ferrule element, and a sleeve. The body and sleeve portions of the grip are threadably connected to the ferrule element, which is attached to the shaft of a shock imparting implement. However, this technology requires altering the golf club shaft to reduce the shaft's length, because the grip requires a mounting that is fixed to the shaft. Moreover, the application of the mounting to the shaft is not disclosed in the patent. In addition, golf shafts have a taper and thus different circumferences and diameters along the length of the golf club. The grip disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,902 does not address this core challenge, as it would limit the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,361, issued May 22, 2012, and entitled CHANGEABLE GRIP, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a changeable grip for a shock imparting implement having a gripping sleeve positioned on a handle sleeve attached to a handle. A lower end of gripping sleeve abuts a ledge integrally formed in the handle sleeve. A threaded cap compresses the gripping sleeve against the ledge to secure the grip to the handle sleeve. Optional splines on an outer surface of the handle sleeve, which mesh with channels in the gripping sleeve, function to prevent slippage or rotation during use. However, this technology requires altering the golf club shaft, similar to U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,902, which is undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,802, issued Apr. 5, 1994, and entitled REMOVABLE GOLF CLUB GRIP, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a removable grip adapted to be fixed on the existing conventional grip of a golf club, the grip has hollows and protuberances enabling the player to automatically adopt a correct position of the hands on the grip. It is noted that this removable grip is not used for play, as it fails to meet the requirements of the U.S. Golf Association (USGA). The grip is used for training purposes to learn correct placement of the user hands when swinging the golf club. The fixing mechanisms are limited, and only work because they lay over rubber and not over a metal or graphite golf club shaft, which has a slip surface.
Thus, there is a need in the market for a wider range of grips with different properties, colors, weights, and sizes. A need exists for a changeable grip having greater flexibility in selecting a specific grip for a given application, and/or for use under a wide variety of conditions, and which allows the user to select the exact type of grip needed under the given conditions for the desired application. In addition, a need exists for a removable grip that operates with the same mechanical properties as a conventional grip.